Gary McAllister, Scottish footballer and manager
Gary McAllister MBE (born 25 December 1964) is a Scottish professional football coach and former player, who is in his second spell as the assistant manager of Aston Villa.
McAllister played primarily as a midfielder in a career spanning over nineteen years. He started his career at local side Motherwell before moving south of the border to Leicester City at the age of 20. He then went on to play for Leeds United, where he won the English league championship in 1991–92. McAllister later had spells at Premier League sides Coventry City, where he was credited with his role in helping the club avoid relegation repeatedly, and Liverpool, where he won a cup treble in 2000–01 at the age of 36.
McAllister also represented his national side for nine years, winning 57 caps and scoring five goals. His leadership qualities were noticed, and he spent four years as Scotland captain in addition to two seasons as Leeds United captain. He was awarded an MBE in the 2001 New Year Honours in recognition of his contribution to football and was inducted to the Scottish Football Hall of Fame in 2016.
He was appointed player-manager of Coventry City in April 2002. He resigned from this position in January 2004 and did not enter management again until he returned to Elland Road in January 2008, to replace Dennis Wise as manager. McAllister guided Leeds to the promotion playoffs, but was dismissed in December 2008. In April 2011, while working as assistant to manager Gérard Houllier at Aston Villa, he became caretaker manager at the Premier League club for a few months due to Houllier's ill health. He also had coaching roles at Middlesbrough and Liverpool, returning to Scotland with Rangers in 2018. He Joined Steven Gerrard in leaving Rangers making a return to Aston Villa as Assistant Manager again.